It was the day motor racing legend Ayrton Senna was killed during the San Marino Grand Prix, at Imola.

It was also the day Crystal Palace clinched the Division One title courtesy of a comfortable win on a warm May day on Teesside.

And it was the date that represented the end of the Lennie Lawrence era and the beginning of an amazing decade full of highs and lows.

Not that it felt like it at the time.

There couldn't have been a greater contrast between the two sets of supporters on the day.

The Boro faithful were split into pro and anti-Lennie camps and, to further dampen the mood, the eventual loss to the Eagles put paid to faint hopes of scraping into the play-offs.

In the packed away end, however, the delirious travelling supporters were a colourful and noisy blaze of blue and red.

Boro actually took the lead through Richard Liburd on 24 minutes with a deflected left-foot shot.

It was that man Southgate who equalised five minutes later, glancing home a Simon Rodger free-kick.

David Whyte gave Palace the lead on 35 minutes, heading past Stephen Pears after the keeper had parried Chris Armstrong's shot.

Boro's leading scorer Paul Wilkinson restored parity just two minutes before the interval, meeting Tommy Wright's free-kick with a powerful header.

Palace upped the tempo in the second half and it was no surprise when they grabbed the winner thanks to the fourth headed goal of the game, this time through Armstrong's 57th minute effort.

The day's programme had included details on the club's proposed new stadium at Middlehaven but fans could be forgiven for digesting the information with a pinch of salt.

For years, the club had made a habit of cashing in on its assets, selling star names like Mark Proctor and Craig Johnston.

So the idea that millions would be ploughed into a brand new home were, for many, unthinkable.

But this time things really were different.

Steve Gibson had taken over as chairman earlier in the year and, inside six months, transformed the club.

His first significant decision was to sack Lawrence and appoint John Pickering as caretaker manager.

The popular and respected coach took charge for the final game of the season at Charlton, which Boro won comfortably 5-2.

Days later, Gibson made possibly the biggest and most far-reaching decision as chairman, before or since, by appointing Bryan Robson as player-manager.

The England legend, fresh from winning the double with Manchester United, gave an unfashionable club credibility and was the magnet that enabled Boro to attract the names that brought promotion inside 12 months.

The club was re-invigorated that memorable summer and it was no surprise when the first game of the 1994/95 season saw a sell-out crowd of 23,343 pack out Ayresome.

Further additions to the squad came during the subsequent season, with Uwe Fuchs and Jan Aage Fjortoft arriving to bolster the attack and Boro won both promotion and the title, dropping out of the top three just once during a memorable campaign.

Off the field, the steelwork was slowly but surely rising from the foundations of the new stadium, which would be completed in time for the new Premiership season.

One day short of a year after the Palace match, Boro all but clinched promotion on an emotional and unforgettable Ayresome afternoon.

It was April 30, 1995, and Boro had to beat Luton to retain their place at the top of the table with just one game to play.

In the end, a John Hendrie brace made sure Robbo's men won 2-1 in the last ever competitive match to be played at Ayresome Park.

Promotion was confirmed the following week, when Bolton failed to win their game in hand, making it impossible for the Trotters to overhaul Boro on the last weekend of the season.

Ten years ago today, Boro were beaten 3-2 by a Crystal Palace side that included a certain Gareth Southgate at a sparsely-populated and crumbling Ayresome Park.

Anyone of a Boro persuasion in the modest 8,638 crowd must have thought they were in for a bleak footballing future.

How wrong they were. Within days Bryan Robson had been appointed and the rest, as they say, is history.